Where can I find an overview of the self-assessment questions?

The links to the self-survey application is available on our website under the “Become a Lighthouse” tab, linked here.

Within the application form itself, you can also find a link to download an Excel or PDF copy of the application for your reference and preparation. This should be used for reference only—all final applications must be submitted through the application survey platform.

How should we select the top solutions?

Solutions should be defined neither too broadly, nor too narrowly. Examples of digital use cases may include the application of a primary technology, often enabled by other technologies, to achieve a specific business goal. For instance, “Digital Twin,” “Reinforcement Learning,” or “Co-bots.” They typically pertain to a single business process, for instance “process controls” or “material handling.” Examples of Talent Innovation may include a new/novel approach to training like VR, an open marketplace for shift trading to enable flexibility, or an advanced tool for skill mapping.

When selecting your top solutions, please keep in mind these key principles:

Innovative: Solution is innovative in context – it represents a new, leading-edge technology or approach deployed to address the site’s unique challenges
Scaled: Solution is scaled fully within the site – it has moved beyond pilots, and is integrated into site’s standard operating procedures and ways of working
Replicable: Solution is replicable by other sites or players – it is not restricted by intellectual property or commercial agreements, and significant CAPEX investments are made transparent
Direct impact: Solution directly impacts “frontline” business and operations – it is not related to support functions or back office such as Legal, Marketing & Finance

How should I describe my solutions?

Start by briefly describing what problem this solution addresses: Do not spend more than one sentence describing the problem – this is only to help the reader understand the importance of the solution and why it is listed in your top list (i.e., addressed a top challenge).

Then describe the technology and how it works in detail: Do spend at least 2-3 sentences describing the technology and how it works – details like what time of model or algorithm, where is it hosted, what kind of inputs and outputs does it require, etc.

Last, clearly describe how the solution ties to direct impact: Do spend at least one sentence describing how the technology realized impact – this is to help the reader understand how the technology translated into tangible performance improvements for the site

Only highlight metrics that show scale of impact: Do include KPIs in the description ONLY if they better show the scape of impact – i.e., # of machines, parameters, processes, etc.. Do not repeat KPIs that will be listed on the right – this should only be net new information

Across all solutions, one of the most important aspects is understandability.

Which year should I enter as baseline year, which year as current year?

Please select a baseline year that reflects your business and operations before the implementation of your top solutions.

It should be at least 2 years, no more than 5 years in the past.

For the online self-assessment, all KPIs must be given for the same baseline and target years. Varying years can lead to an exclusion from the process.

The current year should be 2025 or 2026.

Can greenfield sites apply?

Yes, but only if your transformation is not part of the ramp-up period - this is of course dependent on your industry.

How should we select the KPIs we submit?

The KPIs should be selected by relevance to the overall business needs.

There should be a clear causal connection between the chosen KPIs at the site level and the chosen KPIs at the solution level. The family of KPIs selected should relate to your primary and stated business needs.

How do I describe my KPIs?

Highlight relevance:

Link KPI improvements clearly to your transformation journey

Be precise:

Use precise language in KPI description column, e.g., OEE of SMT Machines
Use precise language in the KPI applicable perimeter column:
Company-wide, e.g., scaled intervention across entire site network
Site/value chain level, e.g., optimization per site/value chain
Built environment, e.g., residential/commercial buildings, infrastructure
Construction project, e.g., new development, retrofit of buildings/infrastructure
Equipment type, e.g., compressor chiller, HVAC system
Machine level, e.g., 1 out of 15 production lines

You can reference the list below as a starting point, however, please note that it is non-exhaustive and there may be other KPIs that better demonstrate the true impact of your performance.

Revenue: Total income generated from sales of goods
Throughput: Rate at which a manufacturing process or system produces output within a given period of time
Conversion Cost: Total costs to convert raw materials into finished products (labor, material and processing costs)
Material Cost: Costs associated with acquiring raw materials needed for production
OEE: Overall equipment effectiveness, a measure of manufacturing productivity (*Please use OEE 2 in this report: Availability x Performance x Quality)
Labor productivity: Amount of output produced per unit of labor input Mean time to repair (MTTR): The average time required to repair a faulty component or system and restore it to operational status
Mean time between failure (MTBF): The average time between failures of a machine or system during normal operation
Unplanned/planned downtime: The average time (per shift, day, week, year) that production stops either due to unforeseen issues or pre-planned maintenance/other activities
Scrap/quality cost: Cost of ensuring and maintaining product quality, minimizing scrap
Defect rate: Percentage of products that do not meet quality standards
First Pass Yield: Percentage of products that pass quality control on the first attempt
Field Failure / Warranty Rate: Percentage of products that fail in the field or require warranty repairs or replacements
On Time Deliver: Percentage of orders delivered on or before the promised delivery date
Lead Time: Time to fulfill an order from start to finish (or supplier/manufacturing lead time, lead to customer)
Cycle time: The total time it takes to complete a process from start to finish
Inventory Levels: Amount of inventory on hand at any given time (i.e., Raw, WIP, FG)
Change-over time: Time it takes to switch production from one product to another
Minimum order quantity: Minimum quantity of a product that can be ordered
Speed to market: Time it takes to bring a new product to market
Energy Consumption: Amount of energy used in production
Scope 1&2 emissions: Direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from a company's operations
Scope 3 emissions: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from a company's supply chain
Waste volume: Amount of waste generated in production
Water consumption: Amount of water used in production
Safety: Number of accidents or injuries that occur in the workplace
Training time: Amount of time spent training employees
Engagement: Level of employee engagement and satisfaction with their work
Absenteeism: Percentage of time
Over time: Hours of non-scheduled working time

Guidelines on writing your transformation change stories:

Reasons for transformation: Explain why you needed to transform your operations, highlighting the challenges, opportunities, or driving forces such as market trends, customer demands, or internal pressures. Be sure to explain how external challenges impact you internally.
Solutions and technologies deployed: Describe the solutions and technologies you implemented to address the challenges. Detail the strategies and initiatives you undertook.
Lessons learned: Share insights and lessons that others can learn from your journey, focusing on what worked well and what could be improved.

Example: To address soaring demand, increasing labor cost, and carbon neutrality commitment, COMPANY applied big data to simulate quality testing, additive manufacturing to reduce change-over time, computer vision to achieve micron-level quality inspection, and deep learning to optimize both process controls and energy management. This resulted in 300% output increase due to 4IR/digital and automation, 30% reduction in manufacturing cost, 50% reduction in normalized emissions, and 99% reduction in quality defects (measurement has been upgraded from ‘per million’ to ‘per billion’).

Will I receive feedback on my application?

Due to the high number of applications in the online self-assessment, we cannot provide individual feedback for every application.

If you have specific questions regarding your application, don’t hesitate to reach out to LighthouseNetwork@weforum.org

When and how will I find out if I have been selected for a site visit?

You will be alerted of the decision to progress to the next round of applications within one month of the application deadline.

The notification will be emailed to the original applicant email, the sponsor of the application, and the up to 5 additional email addresses you provide within the online self-assessment survey.

When will site visits take place?

The site visits will take place within 2-3 months of the deadline for the initial online self-assessment.

What is the timeline for the current wave?

Please find the timeline of the current wave here.

Unilever - Hefei